Forget the Great Wall. These days, the superhighway is becoming the symbol of a rapidly modernising China. Last year, motor vehicle sales surged forwards by an astounding 60%. Although 2003's pace has slowed to a more manageable 50%, that would mean full-year sales of 4.4 million cars and trucks - nearly double 2001's figure. Barring an economic meltdown, China will soon overtake Japan as the world's second-largest automotive market, raising the real possibility that by 2025 the Chinese market could exceed that of the US. General Motors has an aggressive programme of investment in China. Recently retired chairman Jack Smith is the architect of that programme. Smith says the growth in the market has, "happened much faster than we'd ever expected". He took plenty of criticism early on, but these days his successor, Rick Wagoner, is looking like a genius - and for good reason. While GM does not release specific figures for individual markets, China generated "a big piece" of the $1 billion in profits earned in Asia so far this year, says Fritz Henderson, head of the carmaker's Asia/Pacific region. That would make the country the single most profitable part of GM's global empire.
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